Here are the first ten programs from the eighth Nielsen Television Index (NTI) report for the 1966-1967 television season, covering the sixteenth and seventeenth weeks of the season, from Monday, December 26th, 1966 through Sunday, January 8th, 1967. The fifteenth week of the season (Monday, December 19th through Sunday, December 25th, 1966) was a Nielsen “black week,” which you can read all about here. The ratings were published in the January 30th, 1967 edition of Broadcasting. Note that these are the average of both week’s programming except in the case of specials or pre-emptions.

Sporting events were the only special programming during the two week period. The NFL Championship Game, between the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers, was broadcast by CBS on Sunday, January 1st, 1967. The following day, NBC aired the Rose Bowl, pitting Southern California against Purdue. The games were ranked third and fourth, respectively, while the NFL Championship Post-Game came in eighth. The rest of the top ten was filled with regular network programming.

The NFL Championship Game began at 4:00PM on December 31st, according to The New York Times television listings, and the post-game was supposed to start at 6:45PM, outside of prime time. So it must have run over by a bit.

Also according to The New York Times television listings, the Rose Bowl started at 4:45PM on January 1st, preceded by the Sugar Bowl and followed by the Orange Bowl.

No, no, “THE RED SKELTON HOUR” was on CBS [NBC scheduled “OCCASIONAL WIFE” and the first half-hour of “TUESDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES” opposite it], so they had nine of the “Top Ten” shows that week, with NBC’s “BONANZA” at #1 (soon to be “dethroned” by “THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS COMEDY HOUR” on CBS, beginning in February 1967).

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